Succession of Franek

70 So. 2d 670, 224 La. 747, 1954 La. LEXIS 1144
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedJanuary 11, 1954
Docket41066
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 70 So. 2d 670 (Succession of Franek) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Succession of Franek, 70 So. 2d 670, 224 La. 747, 1954 La. LEXIS 1144 (La. 1954).

Opinions

MOISE, Justice.

This matter is a consolidation of the •executory proceedings filed by Arthur C. Dale, Jr. v. Mrs. Mary Franek, widow of Arthur J. Brandin, to recover the sum •of $5,000, plus interest, etc., the alleged amount due on a certain promissory note •executed by Arthur J. Brandin, and secured by mortgage on certain alleged community property, and of the Succession of Mrs. Mary Franek Brandin.

After trial on the merits, judgment was rendered recognizing the note sued on and given by Arthur J. Brandin, on the property involved, which stood in the name of his wife (Mrs. Mary Franek Brandin) as a binding obligation of the deceased husband, the judge having concluded that the property was community property and that the mortgage with which the note was identified, was good as to Brandin’s alleged half of the property.

From this judgment, the two heirs of Mrs. Mary Franek Brandin prosecute this appeal.

After the rendition of the judgment, the litigants, through their attorneys, by stipulation, agreed that:

1. The judgment rendered shall be considered as a judgment rendered on the merits, finally dismissing the petition for injunction;

2. That the- appeal shall not arrest the execution of the writ of executory process; and

3. That the sheriff be permitted to sell the entire property under said writ, according to law, with the understanding that the proceeds of the sale shall be deposited in the registry of the court, subject to further orders of the court.

The parties litigant having, therefore, acquiesced in the sale of the property involved, the issue for our determination is the ownership of the proceeds of the sheriff’s sale.

Plaintiff Dale, the owner of the mortgage note given by Brandin, relies on the fact that the property having been acquired during the marriage, is presumed to be community, but the law is that such is a rebuttable presumption. LSA-C.C. Art. 2402; Succession of McMahon, 176 La. 63, 145 So. 269.

The two forced heirs offered rebuttal proof conclusive that the property is sep[752]*752arate,'-and therefore being in the wife’s name,-the .husband had-no right to mortgage or sell it without her consent, which is usually manifested by her signature.

Dale offered ■ no witness but presented certain documentary evidence. He did not testify to the .contention that the mortgage was one given through compulsion, because of a pending charge made against Brandin in the Criminal District Court for having obtained money from Dale’s mother and Dale under" false pretenses. The info rmatibri’in the record, its date, the amount of the mortgage, as well as the date of execution of, the. mortgage corroborate the allegations, of Mrs.. Brandin. .¡Neither she nor Mir. Brandin could testify. They were both dead at .the .time of the trial. To restrain executory . process, Mrs. Brandin spoke only through the sworn allegations of her petition for injunction, wherein it is asserted that the note is a fraud and was confected between her husband and Dale alone, both of whom knew that the property was her separate property; and that Mrs. Brandin, as the sole owner of the property, was not- a-party -to the -pretended mortgage, which was fraudulently obtained. Mrs. Brandin' alleged also that her husband was in a state' of duress by a criminal prosecution pending (126,395, Criminal District Court) ; that Arthur J. Brandin, in desperation and fear and to avoid criminal prosecution fraudulently consorted with Arthur G. Dale, Jr.,- in executing the pretended note and mortgage; that no money changed hands when the act was passed.; that the instrument, was confected in a haphazard and hurried manner; that no certificates — mortgage, conveyance or tax research — -were obtained, and the Notary was held free of all responsibility for such nonproduction; that no notice was given by the contracting parties tl\at the titie was in the name of. Mrs. Brandin; and that the note was given by Brandin to secure- á prior indebtedness claimed by Arthur C. Dale, Jr., which indebtedness was the .subject of the prosecution instituted.

An examination of the act of sale and the criminal information substantiates these allegations of the deceased’s widow. She further alleged that the property never formed a part of the community but was acquired with her separate and paraphernal funds, under her seperate administration and control.

Plaintiff Dale did not take the stand.

Conceding for the sake of argument that the property stood in the name of the wife and was community property, the husband had no right to mortgage or sell it without the written consent or authority of his wife. We do not need the thunder of Sinai or the writing on a table of stone to elucidate the commandment of our Code:

* * Common property is that which is acquired by the husband and wife during marriage, in any manner [754]*754different from that above declared. But when the title to community property stands in the name of the wife, it cannot he mortgaged or sold by the husband without her written authority or consent.” (Italics mine.) Art. 2334, LSA-C.C.'

The above article applies . to community property, but if the property is separate, the magnitude of the commandment infringed upon must be compounded.

In this instance, has the presumption of community been rebutted? • '•

We have the following evidential facts:

The property is in the wife’s name. The act of sale recites: “here present, accepting and purchasing * * * for herself, heirs * * The stated consideration is $2,350, of which $150 was in cash. A reading of this instrument furnishes the best evidence of the conclusiveness as to its contents. The keeping of the homestead book in her possession, the payment of the homestead dues by her and her children also show that the property was under the wife’s separate administration and control. The record also discloses that the two children gave their mother, Mrs. Brandin, money, and that Brandin’s son, her stepchild, paid board and bought household provisions. The testimony of Bran-din’s son is, as follows:

“Q. You know whether or not Arthur Brandin ever paid anything on it (the home) ? A. No, sir, / am positive that he could not pay anything on it.
“The Court: Q. Why? A. Because he has never worked, your Hon- or. I don’t remember him ever having a job. * * *
' “Q. Where did he get his money to live on? A. I don’t know: I never saw any of it. I used to help support the house myself.
“Q. Did anybody else help to support the house? A. Yes, George and Isabel.” (Italics mine.)

Mrs. M. J. Schoppel, a first cousin to the late Brandin, when propounded the question as to whether she knew what Brandin did for a living, answered:

“No, sir, I have never known him to be employed by any firm or anything that way, and several occasions when money was borrowed my mother would ask him how about getting it back, or something.
“The Court:
“Q. Was that done in your presence? Were you present when your mother spoke to him? A. Yes, I was. And she always used to ask him: Well, why not borrow some money on your house, and we were always under the impression that the home never belong to him. He has stated that

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Bluebook (online)
70 So. 2d 670, 224 La. 747, 1954 La. LEXIS 1144, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/succession-of-franek-la-1954.